Bids Sought for Tower Restoration

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is seeking contractors to preserve and restore a historic air traffic control tower at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, VA.

The project includes coating metal cladding and louvers of the 14-story original main terminal tower and removing hazardous materials.

Bids are due March 13. A pre-bid meeting was held Feb. 20.

Scope of Work

The contractor will first remove lead-based paint from aluminum louvers and panels by brush-off blast cleaning (SSPC-SP 7). The area should be contained and pre-cleaned of paint chips by HEPA vacuuming. Air monitoring should be provided and the contractor should provide a third party inspector for all lead removal work.

The aluminum surfaces will then be primed with polyamide epoxy and coated with a 100% fluoropolymer finish. Exposed lumber and plywood surfaces will receive an exterior-grade acrylic-latex emulsion over exterior primer. All exterior exposed concrete should be power-washed at 200 psi or less.

Ongoing Expansion

Designed by world-renowned architect Eero Saarinen, Dulles International Airport first opened in 1962. It was named for the late Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and was formally dedicated by President John F. Kennedy in a ceremony attended by many dignitaries. The name was later changed to Washington Dulles International Airport. In 1962, the facility served 52,846 passengers, reaching one million by 1966, according to the airport authority.

With the increase in passengers came a need for expansion, beginning with a jet ramp expansion in 1977. In 1996, the two story, 500,000-square-foot terminal building was expanded to 1.1 million square feet.

In 2007, the airport dedicated a new $63.2 million tower, positioned one mile south of the original tower. The new tower is 325 feet tall and includes a 16,500 square foot base building on two levels. In 2011, a major expansion of the International Arrivals building was also completed.

Today, the airport is the largest in the Washington Metropolitan Area. It is also one of the busiest airports in the United States, processing over 23 million passengers a year.

Reported by Paint BidTracker, a construction reporting service devoted to identifying contracting opportunities for the coatings community.